Vick injured, Foles saves Eagles season

Philadelphia Eagles' Nick Foles (9) stiff-arms New York Giants' Mathias Kiwanuka (94) during the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Eagles cruised to a 36-21 season-saving win over the New York Giants Sunday pretty much the way Chip Kelly drew it up.

What changed was the cast that got it done.

Nick Foles fired two touchdown passes in place of Michael Vick, who, having heeded a colleague’s advice to “pick his legs up” when running, strained his left hamstring on his seventh rush of the first half.

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Slumping kicker Alex Henery, who missed a field goal in three straight games, was 5-for-5 from three-point range including the winner.

Moreover the defense that had given up more yardage than any NFL team turned clutch with four takeaways leading to 17 points.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks and cornerbacks Brandon Boykin and Cary Williams all intercepted Eli Manning in the fourth quarter to put an end to the three-game losing streak and put the Giants to sleep.

“It’s huge,” said Eagles tight end Brent Celek, who hauled in a scoring pass from Foles. “This is a game we needed to win. Any time you play the Giants, they’re a good team and they’re going to play us hard.”

Before the day was done the Eagles (2-3, 2-0 division) were in first place in the NFC East by a tiebreaker over the Dallas Cowboys (2-3, 1-0 division).

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly maintained Vick is the starter providing he’s healthy. Vick estimated that would be in about a week.

Which means Foles could be starting on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the second straight season. Foles beat the Bucs for his only NFL win last year.

“I’m just going to keep working every day to get better,” said Foles, who. “My approach doesn’t change. I always stay the same. When you’ve got guys on defense making turnovers and you have guys on offense making big plays and special teams are solid, when you have stuff like that it’s a lot of fun.”

Truth be told, the Eagles beat the still winless Giants. With all due respect, they’re toast. No team in the modern era starting 0-5 has reached the playoffs.

On this day the Giants at least put up a fight. Manning was a blur on the first series. The Eagles looked like they were in trouble after he threw deep on consecutive plays, receiver Hakim Nicks hauling in the second one for 49 yards to set up a five-yard scoring run by David Wilson, who exited for good later in the half with a neck injury.

The Eagles got Manning out of rhythm until the third quarter, when he fired two touchdown passes to Rueben Randle in a span of three minutes to stake them to a 21-19 lead.

Foles stepped up on the next series marching Henery into range for a 41-yard field goal giving the Eagles the lead for good with 1:04 left in the third quarter. The energy was contagious.

The Eagles’ defense that hadn’t forced a turnover since the first half of the second game got three in the final frame.

The turning point came when Kendricks picked off a Manning pass that deflected off a lineman. Trent Cole shook the quarterback with a slap across the head, and possibly into the face mask.

Cole didn’t remember if he got the face mask.

“There were a lot of plays that turned the game around,” said Cole, who registered three tackles. “A lot of turnovers and stuff you want as a defense and the offense scoring, as well.”

Kendricks returned the pass 18 yards before getting dropped by Brandon Jacobs, the intended receiver. On the next play Foles went up top to Celek for a 25-yard scoring play widening the lead to 29-21.

“I’m just glad we got the touchdown right after that,” said Kendricks, who recovered a first-half Jacobs fumble to set up a field goal. “We never batted an eye. We know what we needed to do and we came through and we did it. I’m glad we just put all three pieces of the game together. We didn’t turn over the ball on offense. Special teams didn’t turn over the ball. And defense had a great game.”

Kendricks shrugged and took a deep breath.

“This is big, man,” he said. “It’s good for our confidence. It’s good for our record, of course. And it’s good for the team. I feel like this was much-needed. And what better time to come through than in the fourth quarter?”

The Eagles weren’t through. Boykin stepped in front of a pass intended for Victor Cruz and made the twisting, diving catch of the day. It held up to the change of possession review. Tense moments?

“No, I mean I know I caught it,” Boykin said. “I had it tucked. If they had taken that one away there would have been some problems.”

Foles promptly marched the Eagles 38 yards for their final score. On third-and-goal at the five-yard line Foles arched a ball to DeSean Jackson, who beat his defender on a stop-and-go move.

“I thought he did a great job honestly,” Jackson said. “He kept us in the game and then he gave us an opportunity to win. And that’s all you can really ask.”

Cary Williams added insult to injury as he intercepted Manning at the 49-yard line of the Giants with 7:05 remaining. The Eagles drained the clock the rest of the way. The Giants? They couldn’t get out of their own way.

Oh, and Manning is in a worse funk than ever.

“I know I can play better,” said Manning, who completed 24 of 52 attempts for 334 yards. “I’ve just got to keep working and have a great game plan and just try to make good decisions.”